|
|
| The Origin of Christmas and Christmas Customs Official Site of Jehovah's Witnesses Public Information The first Christmas that Chris Hanft did not celebrate with her family was a little tense, she recalls. "I basically disappeared for the day," she said. But that was 17 years ago. Now Hanft, who is one of Jehovah's Witnesses, and her parents, who are not, get through the holiday season without a problem. "Once they realize that you are not abandoning the family, they feel better," Hanft said. "My mom and dad have been very good about that. Out of respect for me, they don't say, 'I wish we could celebrate it together.'" At the same time, the Hanfts make an effort to organize a non-holiday-related family gathering at least once a year. "The thing you value the most is not the presents or Santa, it's getting together," Hanft said. "And you can still do that.............................." | |
| (link not official site of Jehovah's Witnesses) The date of December 25th probably originated with the ancient"birthday" of the son-god, Mithra, a pagan deity whose religious influence became widespread in the Roman Empire during the first few centuries A.D. Mithra was related to the Semitic sun-god, Shamash, and his worship spread throughout Asia to Europe where he was called Deus Sol Invictus Mithras. Rome was well-known for absorbing the pagan religions and rituals of its widespread empire. As such, Rome converted this pagan legacy to a celebration of the god, Saturn, and the rebirth of the sun god during the winter solstice period. The winter holiday became known as Saturnalia and began the week prior to December 25th. The festival was characterized by gift-giving, feasting, singing and downright debauchery, as the priests of Saturn carried wreaths of evergreen boughs in procession throughout the Roman temples.
Variations of this pagan holiday flourished throughout the first few centuries after Jesus Christ, but it probably wasn't until 336 AD that Emperor Constantine officially converted this pagan tradition into the "Christian" holiday of Christmas. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- See also: The changing face of Santa Clause by Nelson Bennet, Richmond [VA) News, for some insight and historical ideas on Christmas, the magi, proposed dates for Jesus' birth, and the origin of the Santa Clause myth. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In ancient Babylon, the feast of the Son of Isis (Goddess of Nature) was celebrated on December 25. Raucous partying, gluttonous eating and drinking, and gift-giving were traditions of this feast. In Rome, the Winter Solsice was celebrated many years before the birth of Christ. The Romans called their winter holiday Saturnalia, honoring Saturn, the God of Agriculture. In January, they observed the Kalends of January, which represented the triumph of life over death. This whole season was called Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What are the historic roots of the Christmas celebration? Roman pagans first introduced the holiday of Saturnalia, a week long period of lawlessness celebrated between December 17-25. The festival began when Roman authorities chose “an enemy of the Roman people” to represent the “Lord of Misrule.” Each Roman community selected a victim whom they forced to indulge in food and other physical pleasures throughout the week. At the festival’s conclusion, December 25th, Roman authorities believed they were destroying the forces of darkness by brutally murdering this innocent man or woman. The ancient Greek writer poet and historian Lucian (in his dialogue entitled Saturnalia) describes the festival’s observance in his time. In addition to human sacrifice, he mentions these customs: widespread intoxication; going from house to house while singing naked; rape and other sexual license; and consuming human-shaped biscuits (still produced in some English and most German bakeries during the Christmas season). In the 4th century CE, Christianity imported the Saturnalia festival hoping to take the pagan masses in with it. Christian leaders succeeded in converting to Christianity large numbers of pagans by promising them that they could continue to celebrate the Saturnalia as Christians. The problem was that there was nothing intrinsically Christian about Saturnalia. To remedy this, these Christian leaders named Saturnalia’s concluding day, December 25th, to be Jesus’ birthday. Christians had little success, however, refining the practices of Saturnalia. As Stephen Nissenbaum, professor history at the University of Massachussetts, Amherst, writes, “In return for ensuring massive observance of the anniversary of the Savior’s birth by assigning it to this resonant date, the Church for its part tacitly agreed to allow the holiday to be celebrated more or less the way it had always been.” The earliest Christmas holidays were celebrated by drinking, sexual indulgence, singing naked in the streets (a precursor of modern caroling), etc. The Real Story of Christmas. SimpletoRemember.com, Judaism Online. (Retrieved November 2, 2009). | |  Escultura "Saturnalia" en el Jardín Botánico de Buenos Aires, Argentina, obra del italiano Ernesto Biondi. Photograph by Roberto Fladone. Saturnalia: An orgiastic festival in Rome dedicated to the Roman God, Saturn. Christmas was based on the celebration of this ancient pagan festival. Drunkeness, ludeness, and murder are connected with this holiday. Is lying to children about Santa Clause of any concern? Photo: Ty Schwartz, US Navy There are different ideas about the Santa Clause story and children. Some feel that it is of little consequence, others feel that it teaches children that adults can't be trusted and that lying is acceptable under certain circumnstances. Regardless of which way one might side on this issue, for children, it does seem to have a certain impacat. One child, in the 4th grade, about 11 years old, learned that year that Santa Clause was not real. When asked did she have any idea that Santa Clause wasn't real before that time, she said with emphasis, "I didn't have a clue." She spied out her mother putting out the presents in the middle of the night, and was "shocked". However, she didn't let on, as she said, "I wanted to new Barbie set". So she never told her parents that she was on to them. Another 13 year old said, she was disappointed when she realized, at eight years old, that Santa wasn't real. She figured it out, as she realized it was her aunt dressed as Santa. Another adult said, "I was so dissapointed, soo disappointed," when she discerned as a young girl, that "Santa" was a friend of the family. It is a feeling she remembers to this day. So, it may be that that story of Santa Clause as related to many children, while well intentioned, can have some long range effects on the child's ability to trust their parents or adults in general, as well as in their own character education, that is with respects to truth and lying. Jehovah's Witnesses have taken the position of telling children the truth about these stories, from infancy to their children. This, they feel, will have positive long range effects on the development of the child's personality. As Jesus said that Satan is "the father of the lie" while the Creator, God, is the Father of all truth. John 8:44. John 4:24. At the same time, they recognize that every parent has the right and responsibility to make their own decisions on such matters. Page updated: December 24, 2009 | |
|
|